Fastening device for shoes.



G. B. RATTERMANN & W. W. GARRISON.

FASTENING DEVICE FOR SHOES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 31, 1915.

Patented June 6, 1916.

71/ 070, INVENTORS,

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V VITN EssEs A-rro R N EY ms cuLuMmA PLANOGRAPH c0.. WASHINGTON, n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FASTENING DEVICE FOR- SHOES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 6, 1916.

Application filed March 31, 1915. Serial No. 18,392.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, GEORGE B. BATTER- MANN and WALTER W. GARRISON, citizens of the United States, residing at Birmingham, in the county of Jefferson and State of Alabama, have invented a new and useful Fastening Device for Shoes, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in shoe fastening devices.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of shoe fastening devices and to provide a simple, practical, and efficient shoe fastening device of strong and durable construction, designed to overcome the inconvenience incident to the loss of buttons from shoes and the labor of resetting buttons to fit the feet of the wearer, and capable of enabling shoes to be easily and quickly fastened and unfastened and of affording a plurality of adjustments at each button hole, so that a shoe'may be properly and comfortably fastened.

lVith these and other objectsiin view the invention consists in the construction and novel combination of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing, and pointed out in the claims here to appended, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportion, size and minor details of construction, within the scope of the claims, may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

' In the drawing: Figure 1' is an elevation of a portion of a shoe provided with a fastening device constructed in accordance with this invention, the shoe being fastened. Fig. 21s a similar'view, the shoe being unfastened. Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 1. Fig. l is a transverse sectional view on the line of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the locking lever or member, the bearing plate and the spring for holding the lever or member in its open and closed positions, the parts being assembled. Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view of the locking lever or member. Fig. 7 is a similar view of the keeper plate. Fig. 8 is a similar view of the flanged button hole eyelet. Fig. 9 is a perspective view showing a modified form of keeper plate.

Like numerals of reference designate cordrawlng.

In the accompanying drawing, inwhich is illustrated the preferred embodiment of theinvention, 1 designates a keeper plate mounted on one side or portionQ of a shoe 3 and adapted to be engaged by a locking lever or member 4, which is mounted on the opposite exteriorly overlapped portion 5 of the shoe. The keeper plate 1, which is deslgned to be constructed of any suitable material, is secured to the shoe by prongs 6, preferably arranged in pairs at the ends of the keeper plate and adapted to pierce the side 2 of the shoe and be clenched interiorly thereof. The keeper late, which is provided at intervals wit spaced transverse bars 7 and openings 8, .is spaced from the outer face'of the side portion 2 of the shoe by means of side flanges 9 to provide an intervening space between the bars 7 and the shoe to enable the locking lever or member to readily engage beneath the said bar 7 without contacting with the shoe or hurting the wearer. The keeper plate is curved longitudinally to conform to the configuration of the shoe, and the side flanges 9 pre sent curved edges 10 to the same.

The locking lever or member 4, which is mounted on a bearing plate 11, consists of an outer operating arm or stem 12, an inner engaging arm 13, and a transverse pivot 1a projecting laterally from opposite sides of the locking lever or member at a point, intermediate of the ends thereof and at the junction of the outer and inner arms. The bearing plate 11, which is arranged at the inner face of the side portion 5 of the shoe, is secured to the sameby prongs 15 preferably arranged in pairs at the ends of the bearing plate and piercing the shoe at opposite sides ofa button hole .16 of the said outer side portion 5. The prongs preferably do not extend entirely through the side portion 5 in order to conceal them, but they may be passed entirely through the same and clenched exteriorly thereof. The bearing plate, which is provided with a relatively small rectangular opening 17, is provided at opposite sides thereof with angle bearings 18 of approximately V-shape, composed of sides preferably arranged at right angles to correspond to the square pivot 14:, which is adapted to fit the angle bearings in its open and closed positions, whereby it is firmly held in either position by a spring 19. The spring 19, which is approximately U- shaped, is composed of spaced sides 20 and a transverse connecting portion. The spring is fitted against the exterior face of the bearing plate and is secured to the same by lugs 21 formed integral with the bearing plate and preferably arranged in pairs at opposite sides thereof and bent inwardly over the sides of the spring. The sides of the spring extend across the angle bearings and press the pivot against the same and firmly hold the locking lever or member in and out of engagement with the keeper plate. Then the locking lever or member is in engagement with the keeper plate, one of the corners of the square pivot fits the angle bearings and two of the side faces of the pivot are arranged flat against the angularly related sides of the said bearings, and when the lever is oscillated to swing it from its engaging to its open position, another corner of the pivot is carried into interfitting relation with the bearings, and the spring will operate to hold the locking lever or member in such position. The inner engaging arm 13' of the locking lever or member, which is curved, is approximately b shaped and is adapted to pass through one of the openings 8 of the keeper plate and engage around one of the bars 7 thereof, whereby the shoe is securely held in its closed position. The keeper plate. may be provided with any number of bars 7 to afford the desired adjustment, and by adjusting the side portions of the shoe at each of the button holes, a perfect and comfortable fit of such portions may be obtained at the time the shoes are tried on by the purchaser, thereby avoiding the labor and delay incident to changing the buttons, and. a perfect adjustment, instead of the crude adjustment incident to the use of ordinary buttons, is obtained. The locking lever or member is equipped at the outer end of its operating arm 12 with a head .22 preferably inthe form of a shoe button, and as the outer arm or stem extends through the button hole and only the head is arranged eXteriorly of the side 5 of the shoe, a pair of shoes equipped with the shoe fastening device will present substantially the appearance of an ordinary pair of button shoes. Each of the button holes is reinforced by an eyelet 23, preferably of elliptical form, as shown in Fig. 8, but it may, of course, be of any preferred shape. The eyelet is provided with flanges 24, which are arranged at the inner and outer faces of the side portion 5 of the shoe.

In Fig. 9 of the drawing we have shown modified form of keeper plate which consists simply in dividing the plate in half. Of course in this construction each half or section of the keeper plate is provided with four retaining prongs. The object of dividing the keeper plate is to avoid the objection which might be raised to a long keeper plate as being too stiff. In actual practice the two sections of the keeper plate practically form one continuous plate, as they will abut each other.

that is claimed is 1. A shoe fastening device including a keeper rigidly mounted on a shoe exteriorly at one side thereof, aslocking lever having an integral pivot, means engaging the pivot, said means being mounted on the other side of the shoe at the inner face thereof, said locking. lever comprising an outer operat-.

ing arm extending through such side of the shoe, and an inner arm arranged to engage the said keeper.

2. A shoe fastening. device including a keeper mounted on. a shoe at one side thereof, a bearing plate mounted on the inner face of the other side of the shoe, a locking lever pivotally mounted on the plate and comprising an outer operating arm extending through such side of the shoe for operation exteriorly thereof, and an inner arm arranged to engage with the keeper, and a spring mounted on the bearingplate and arranged. to hold the locking lever in and out, of engagement with the keeper.

3. A shoe fastening device including .a keeper plate mounted on one side of a shoe eXteriorly thereof and provided with a plurality of spaced bars, said keeper plate being also provided with means for maintaining the said bars in spaced relation with. the adjacent side of the shoe, and a looking lever having an integral pivot and. pivotally mounted on the other side of the shoe at the interior thereof, and comprising an operatingarm extending tl'irough the shoe for exterior operation, and an inner arm arranged to engage beneatl r the bars of the keeper at the space between the said bars and the shoe.

4. A shoe fastening device including a keeper platemounted on one side of a shoe exteriorly thereof and provided with a plu rality of spaced bars, said keeper being. also provided with side flanges arranged to space the bars from. the shoe, and a locking leverhaving an integral. pivot and pivotally mounted on the other side of the shoe at the interior thereof and comprising an operating.

keeper mounted on one side of a shoe, a

bearing plate secured to the other side of the shoe at the inner face thereof andprovided with a substantially V-shaped bearing, a locking lever extending through the bearing plate and provided at a point intermediate of its ends with a substantially square pivot fitting the said bearing, the inner portion of the lever constituting an arm for engaging the keeper and the outer portion of the lever constituting an operating arm, and a spring for holding the pivot in interfitting relation with the bearing.

7. A shoe fastening device including a keeper mounted on a shoe at one side thereof, a bearing plate mounted on the other side of the shoe at the inner face of the same and provided with an opening, said bearing plate being provided at opposite sides of the opening With bearings and having lugs arranged in pairs at opposite sides of the plate, a spring having spaced r, portions located at opposite sides of the opening and engaged by the said lugs, and

a locking lever provided intermediate of its ends w1th a pivot arranged in the sald bearings and engaged by the sa d spring, said lever having an inner engaging arm to coact with the keeper and provided with an outer operating arm extending through the shoe.

8. A shoe fastening device including a keeper secured to one side of a shoe, a bearing plate mounted on the shoe at the inner face of the other side and provided with an opening, said plate having bearings at opposite sides of the opening, a locking lever extending through the opening of the bearing plate and provided at a point intermediate of its ends with a pivot arranged in the said bearings, the inner portion of the lever constituting an engaging arm and arranged to coact with the keeper, and the outer portion of the lever formingan operating arm and provided With ahead, and a spring mounted on the bearing plate and engaging the pivot of the locking lever.

9. A shoe fastening device" including a keeper mounted on a shoe at one side thereof, and a locking lever extending through the other side of the shoe and pivotally mounted at a point intermediate of its ends, the inner portion of the lever constituting an arm for engaging the keeper when moved in the arc of a circle, and the outer portion of the lever constituting an operating arm and provided with a head adapted to present the appearance of a shoe button.

In testimony, that we claim the foregoing as our own, we have hereto affixed our sig- 7 natures in the presence of two Witnesses.

GEORGE B. RATTERMANN. WALTER W. GARRISON. Witnessesz.

THOMAS W. Roenns, THOMAS E. HARRISON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained m five cents each, by addressing the Comminioner of Patents. Washington, D. G. 

